SAFA Skysailor Magazine

34 SKY SAILOR January | February 2022 Hi folks. We’re well into the new season now – except for Queensland, where it’s always the season – and reports are starting to flow in again. As I’m writing this, I’m glued to the Flytrace tracking site watching the progress of some of Tassie’s finest forging a new route up through the Midlands to the Fingal Valley. Good job! However, a couple of things to remember in these times: If you’ve been out of action for a while, take the time to go ground handling and refamiliarise yourself with your equipment. Pull your reserve out, loft it and do a repack. Be prepared for punchy air – summer condi- tions can be quite rowdy. We’ve recently had a couple of reports where pilots have taken a hard landing stiff- legged, usually dropping in from a few metres. These have resulted in fractured vertebrae, thankfully stable. If you find yourself in this situation, adopt the parachute landing fall (PLF) technique. Jocky gives a good explanation and demonstration here . A fall from as little as 1.5m with a stiff-legged landing is enough to cause injury; the higher you drop in from, the greater the risk if you get it wrong. Okay, now for this month’s offerings. Let’s go coastal… AIRS #1554: Free fall from 15m to ground, PG/VIC PIC was flying their high aspect EN-D paraglider at Ocean Grove (VIC). They had attempted to outrun a localised coastal storm with associated wind gusts by applying full speed bar. The turbulent air caused a frontal collapse in close proximity to terrain, causing a free fall from 15m agl with a significant impact taken on the flat of the back. The pilot sustained minor, temporary winding and no equipment damage. Assessment of changing conditions should always be constant. Safe landing options, where available, should be used when conditions may cause dangerous turbulence. Now a couple of reserve tosses… AIRS #1379: Low level reserve deployment, PG/WA PIC was flying their paraglider at Mt Bakewell (WA). Whilst on approach to landing at approx- imately 200ft agl, they were hit by a thermal and lost control of the wing. They immediately deployed their reserve, and it was inflated by 100ft agl. The wing downplaned and increased the descent rate. The pilot landed on their feet. Conditions were thermic with 4.5m/sec thermals and lift to approximately 4000ft agl. Winds were light SE, less than 5kt. If the reserve needs to be deployed, do it early; hesitation could be fatal. Even at low altitudes, it is better to throw than not. This also serves as a reminder of the importance of keeping reserve parachutes in good order. Reserves should preferably be lofted for 24 hours and repacked every six months. AIRS #1405: Reserve throw over Clearspot, PG/VIC PIC was flying their paraglider from Mystic (VIC). They had headed over to Clearspot and were on three-quarter speedbar leaving the AIRS Safety Wrap-up – December 2021 by Iain Clarke – SAFA Safety Management Officer